Women across the globe have been taking the world by storm through leadership and empowerment. Leadership and empowerment go hand in hand- without empowerment, one cannot lead, and without leadership, one cannot empower. Throughout this class we have explored ways in which women can become better leaders and can empower others to follow suit. Due to reading “Presence” by Amy Cuddy and “Vital Voices” by Alyse Nelson, I have developed my own definitions of leadership and empowerment, and have used those definitions to help me determine and enhance my personal strengths. Leadership means having a strong sense of self and being able to utilize one’s set of skills to motivate others or to work towards a goal. An effective leader must be confident …show more content…
Personally, I think that female empowerment means to motivate and encourage women to be who they are and to make the changes that they want to see in the world. We read in “Presence” by Amy Cuddy that in order to make change, women need to find their “best authentic selves.” This means being comfortable with who one is and being confident in one’s ability to make change. In the book “Vital Voices”, we read many examples of how women across the globe stepped up to make advances in the feminist movement. Each one of those women knew who they were and where they wanted to go. Many were raw with their emotions and experiences and used that to connect with their audience or inspire others to join a cause. This demonstrates that in order to empower others, an effective leader needs to capture the idea of authenticity. One can share their experience about having a personal drive to do something or share how they fearlessly utilized their skills to create a change, but most importantly, an effective leader can empower others by being the one that believes in someone else’s …show more content…
Strengths and passions play an important role in empowerment because once one pinpoints their talents, they can build on them and become more comfortable performing them. With comfort in one’s abilities comes comfort in one’s identity. This allows people to feel confident in taking on and leading certain tasks because even if one is nervous, they still have that satisfaction of knowing that they understand what they 're doing. For example, I am confident in my abilities to organize and to achieve a goal, and I am passionate about serving others. When I became vice president of National Honor Society, because of these three things, I knew that I could put together events for local charities without failing to forget important details. Confidence and security in my abilities empowered me to take on an important role and come into it with a positive attitude. With this mindset, I know that I can tackle my future with relative
Many definitions exist on what leadership is. Despite the many differences in definitions, they all describe the leader as someone who influences others. Leaders transform individuals around them allowing them to work to their full potential. In order for a leader to be successful they must be knowledgeable, self- confident, and effective communicators. These characteristics will create a positive workplace environment that results in an increase in productivity. Leadership is not defined by titles or salary. Leaders must acquire their skills and continue to improve on them through learning. Good leaders provide a vision and help motivate others to make that vision happen. The leader must be effective and successful in creating a strong institution.
Wilson, Marie C. Closing the Leadership Gap Why Women Can and Must Help Run the World. New York: Viking Adult, 2004. Print
A leader needs to “believe” in oneself and have the confidence that whatever you say will excite and what you do can motivate others. You must be optimistic about what you do, do have some relevance for being in existence. Believe it or not, “leadership begins with you”.
Leadership is all about having the right amount of heart and determination to help make a difference in someone’s life. It takes certain qualities to be considered a good leader. A leader should want to help inspire others to make a change and to be the best that they can be. A true leader does not need to feel powerful, instead they empower those around them. Throughout my life I have come across various leaders who have made an impact on my life. It takes a very special person to inspire and touch people’s lives. Leadership is so much deeper than having power and bossing people around.
The principal of empowerment lies in the capability of a woman to control her own purposes. Previously in the 70’s, being an empowered women wasn’t an option. They didn’t have equal capabilities such as education to achieve literacy, health and equal access to resources and opportunities such as employment with same wage as men. However, to use those rights, skills, resources, and opportunities to make deliberate decisions such as providing through management opportunities and involvement in political organizations, weren’t an option either. Also women wanted to live without the fear of pressure and violence threw out those historical times. Because the stereotype for women was the proper place for them to be was home while men worked to provide for his family. These boundaries have made men the guardians of what has been taught and understood concerning gender and the placement of men and women in society. However, this perspective has changed over the years. Women have now stepped outside of those powerless limits of domesticity and have now been recognized as gender equality. Women today in society now have strengthen opportunities for a proper education, assurance for sexual and reproductive health and rights, abolish gender discrimination in employment by decreasing women’s dependence as a house wife as an employment, increased women’s share of seats in
For many years, I have been told by teachers, family, and friends that I am a good leader. Until fairly recently, I had never truly thought about what it means to be a good leader and just took it as a compliment. Leadership is an intangible concept which cannot be properly outlined in a dictionary, but one which must be formed and explained only through one’s own philosophies and experiences.
The concept of “empowerment” gained acceptance within gender and development cycles at the end of the 1980s. Young (2002) sees “empowerment” as a participatory means that can be enhanced by development agencies beginning with “UN” to the “World Bank”. However, empowerment can be understood in many different ways. Firstly, some scholars see empowerment as a self-actualization where a person is transformed into a productive member of society (Parpart 2002). For Rowlands, “empowerment is a process in which women and men gain self-confidence so that they are able to participate in all aspects of development and decision-making (Momsen 2004:14)”. From a feminist perspective, Parpart, Rai, and Staudt (2002) see empowerment both as a process and an
There are many different things I think of when I think of what leadership means to me. My idea of leadership is to be able to inspire others, get them excited to do something, motivate them and set an example to others. I also think that showing respect to others is a key part of leadership. You don’t just need leadership qualities, but you need to be a successful leader. To me being a successful leader is being able to have people follow you and not disrespect you. If you are a great leader your followers start to respect you more. To be a leader you also need to have certain qualities like being sociable, intelligent, have patience to deal with situations. A leader needs to be motivated or they will be a failure. I think I show leader ship all the time inside and outside of school. “A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way (John C. Maxwell).
A woman can effectively lead change in many ways, but for that change to be truly effective, the cause must be something that she feels passionately about and is willing to fight for. She should be outspoken about the cause that she believes in and be willing to spearhead the movement. In addition, she should be prepared to be a role model for those around her. Women in positions of power can draw a large audience, and she should use that audience to her advantage. Finally, she should be able to stand up against the inevitable backlash that occurs whenever change is taking place.
To begin, the modernized feminist movement has altered the way gender roles are viewed in society. Women are pushing for complete control in nearly every aspect of life. Many feminists believe women could do just as well, if not better, than men have been doing in leadership positions. Many women fail to realize that ingrained in men is a desire to protect and lead. By taking over men’s roles, they leave men not knowing exactly what should be done.
The two area of strength that will be discuss within this paper is personal empowerment and social empowerment. First personal empowerment strength, mainly this strength is to regulate self-determination. In other words, by giving the clients, the directions of helping the process of the client to take charge and being and control of their personal lives. e.g. when Paula stopped using drugs, she took the ignition and preceded to take charge of her life and enrolled in a Fashion Institution of Technology (FIT) in New York City. After completion of her BA, she went to work for a clothing designer, however, she realizes her true passion was painting. That’s when Paula took charge of her own life
When we think about how it used to be 100 years ago, the only people in leadership roles where men, and there was no presence of women. Why is it that we tend to see more men in leadership positions? Usually when we think of what a leader looks like, we tend to describe them as powerful, assertive and confidence. Because of stereotypes our society immediately labels this person as a man, due to the roles that we are expected to follow. Today, there has been a huge shift for women in leadership positions; however, there are many challenges that they still have to overcome. A process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal (Northouse, 2007) defines a leader. Moreover, leaders come in different forms whether in a professional, educational, or group setting. As a male college student and an advocate for equal rights between men and women, my understanding of the struggles that women face has a huge impact on my philosophy of leadership. The three most important concepts in this course that has resonated with me the most are double bind, and think manager-think male and glass ceiling.
According to Shockley and Zalabak (2009) "Leadership is a process of guiding individuals, groups, and entire organization in establishing goals and sustaining action to support goals.Leadership is like mapping out where you need to go to win". A Leader is a person who has a strong personality and who has an ability to manage people and work. He is also the person who is able to direct people .Usually a leaders has a lot of attributes that
What is leadership? Leadership is defined as a process by which a individual will influence others to obtain goals. Leaders will guide, direct motivate, or inspire others. Leadership is defined by not only traits but actions as well. Leaders are inspirational, trustworthy and charismatic. Many people may think a manger is leader. Although leadership and management go hand in hand, they are not the same. Everyone has their own beliefs about what characteristics an effective leader should have. To me, communication skills, critical thinking skills, and having a vision are few characteristics of becoming an effective leader. A leader is not only born, but made. Some are born as leaders or some are made to be leaders.
When talking about gender inequality there are a few terms everyone should know. First, what is a feminist? A feminist believes in the social, political, and economic equality of all the sexes, not just one. Second, what does gender inequality mean? Gender inequality refers to unequal treatment of individuals based on their gender. Gender inequality happens all over the world, not just here in the states. It is an important issue that needs to be resolved so both genders can be treated equally in society. Women are treated less than men everywhere because of the wage gap, rape accusations that are starting to be taken less seriously, and we make women feel guilty and shameful because they are born female.